5846561
story
Comments: 374 +- Games: Swine Flu Outbreak At PAX on Wednesday September 09, @02:09PM
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicmedicine.gif); width:64px; height:80px;
medicine
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topictransportation.gif); width:75px; height:69px;
transportation
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicgames.gif); width:68px; height:77px;
games
whisper_jeff writes "There's been a confirmed outbreak of Swine Flu at PAX. Those who attended and are feeling under-the-weather after the con should not write it off as a typical convention cold and go see a doctor to make sure, just in case." The linked post also lists the airplane flights of the cases known so far, so if you flew from Seattle on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday for any reason, you might want to compare your itinerary.
Related Stories
: by
No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after
eating one peanut.
-- Channing Pollock
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2010 Geeknet, Inc.
Spread the FUD (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't it just influenza?
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, but it's a new strain, so few people have antibodies. It's hitting young adults harder than the usual victims (elderly and babies). See http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2009/09/when_swine_flu_kills.php [scienceblogs.com] for a good discussion of why we should not take this lightly.
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/ Great flu blog
http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/ Another flu blog.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:4, Interesting)
Isn't it just influenza?
Most people haven't had the flu in years. Most people also call any heavy cold a 'flu'. Now when experts describe the symptoms of swine flu as 'mild', most people think of a cold, meaning having the sniffles for a few days.
People who have recently experienced the actual flu remember that 'oh yeah, that used up two years worth of my sick leave last year', or 'oh yeah, that's what put mom in intensive care last winter'.
A mortality rate of 0.1% sounds like no risk at all, but if a third of the population gets it during an epidemic, that means 300000 people dead. The 99.9% survivors include people who needed intensive care, anti viral treatment, weeks on a respirator.
Most people don't bother to get flu shots, because they (probably rightly) assume that the flu wouldn't kill them. They forget that while it might not kill them, they are likely to infect a dozen others, who each infect a dozen others, etc, some of which include someone's newborn baby, or someone's grandpa, or a pregnant woman, or a kid with asthma, all of whom run a much greater risk than 0.1%
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Informative)
I think his point is that regular influenza also kills healthy kids, teenagers, and young adults. The mortality rate of H1N1 is no higher than for regular flu.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:4, Insightful)
IIRC H1N1 has about twice the kill rate as conventional flu.
Had. That was back when they only tested those with severe symptoms. Naturally, they also had a higher mortality rate.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah, the issue with H1N1 doesn't have to do with its lethality. The bigger concern is that because it is different enough from previous flu strains that a given individual's immune system is unlikely to have a useful level of immunity to it. So basically you're more likely to get sick if you're exposed to it.
If you do get sick, your chances of becoming severely ill and/or dying is not higher than with the average seasonal flu. It really only becomes an issue on a larger scale. According to the CDC website, between 5-20% of the US gets the flu in a given year, and on average they estimate about 36,000 die each year. If H1N1 infects 50%, at 0.1% mortality rate, then you're looking at 150,000 dead. And while that's not civilization ending by any means, it's still a lot of extra dead people.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:4, Informative)
Of course this is in addition to all the people who get the seasonal strain as well (some people will get swine but not seasonal, some will get the opposite, and some will even get both). But either way, if more people are sick at the same mortality rate, the total dead will also increase. The short way to say it: worry less about mortality rate, worry more about transmission rate.
The big worry isn't all the athletic, healthy, strapping young gamers at PAX. It's their high-risk friends, family members, co-workers, etc who can easily contract the virus from them. Worry less about the cosplayers, worry more about the cosplayer's teacher's ailing mother who ends up severely ill or dead.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Funny)
But you're forgetting something. It has a different name! And I saw people wearing masks! And the news talks about it!
Therefore, I can safely conclude it has a mortality rate of 1000%, can be contracted by looking at a pig, and it will destroy humanity.
Can you truly argue with these documented facts?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Not true. Novel H1N1 was killing around 0.05% while normal influenza is around 0.1%.
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=103052 [thedailystar.net]
"Swine virus 100 times lethal than seasonal flu". Of course, it could still be statistical noise. But it seems trends are starting to emerge - there are targets who are not at risk from seasonal flu, but are more vulnerable to swine flu: namely pregnant people, obese people, and teenagers.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:4, Funny)
I am glad that you are so politically correct as not to exclude 50% of the population.
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Informative)
Good lord, you can't even quote your own source correctly. It says "People who die after getting swine flu are 100 times more likely, compared to seasonal flu, to have been killed by the virus itself rather than secondary causes." Which is a rather odd way of putting it to start with (by "dying from the virus itself" they really mean "dying due to overzealous immune reaction"), and not helpful from assessing mortality rates in general. If 1000 people die of swine flu, and another 1000 die of seasonal flu with complications, it's not really that important from a lethality standpoint. If the seasonal group's secondary infections would not have occurred absent the seasonal flu, then the seasonal flu was still responsible for the death.
Secondly, the article itself notes that "Both seasonal influenza and the new A(H1N1) virus that has swept the globe since May appear to have roughly the same mortality rate of one-to-five per 1,000 infections," though it notes that the swine flu figures are sketchy.
Finally, your source is suspect to start with. It's a single scientist, and the results haven't actually been published, just posted to a research sharing website (no real vetting has occurred). In case you've forgotten, science reporting goes for sensation over accuracy [smbc-comics.com].
Parent
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
You are being controlled through fear.
It's not a matter of some conspiracy. Fear sells. It's legal to "stretch the truth," or as I like to say, lie about things in order to get your numbers higher for the nightly news or the homepage impressions.
When you listen to what scientists are saying, it's the fact that it's a new strain that is the dangerous part. It's already shown resistance to typical treatment, so if it becomes particularly nasty through mutation this winter (exactly as the Spanish flu did, by the way) then it will be a problem.
I know using "science" to head problems like this one off at the pass is a terribly unpopular idea in America, but one that I support anyway. It's better to be safe than sorry, as the saying goes. Wash your hands. Don't go to work if you're sick. And if you feel ill, go to the doctor. Good advice in general, but not only are you protecting yourself, but also reducing the chance that we turn this winter into a perfect storm for H1N1.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Controlled through fear? If I may ask, what are we being controlled to do? Watch more TV news, mostly, as far as I can tell.
Which is a problem in itself. TV news isn't actually informative to a large extent. From the weeks of TV news coverage given to swine flu, the actual relevant information could easily be condensed down to half a dozen bullet points (I'll append them to the end of this post). No, in the case of the flu the motives may be benign, so it's not "controlled" in the puppet sense, but the hysteria over swine flu clogs emergency rooms (costing money, time and just for good measure, increasing the spread as the fe
Re:Spread the FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the swine flu, just like the normal flu, is a threat to sick kids with poor health care, and the elderly. Normal, healthy adults will feel like crap, and get over it just like a normal flu.
The media loves to blow these things up. SARS was going to kill us all. The avian flu was going to kill us all. Killer bees were going to kill us all.
Sadly, I work for a newspaper that ran a headline that Nebraska had its first swine flu death. What it hid much later in the story was that the case was a Mexican child who was already near death was transported to a Nebraska hospital, and then he died within a day of arriving. Most "American" swine flu deaths are stories like these.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Citation needed.
CNN/ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox news are not valid reference sources.
Its mortality rate is lower than the standard seasonal flu. (Standard rate: %0.12, Swine Flu: %0.05)
The CDC believes ever case of 'the flu' this summer has been of the swine flu strain.
Your body becomes resistant after a single infection.
Some people are resistant to it after having dealt with infections from other flu strains, which is why it doesn't appear to affect anyone born before 1957.
Citation: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ [cdc.gov]
getthefacts.
Oh Noes (Score:3, Funny)
Pox at Pax!
Wash your hands! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wash your hands! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Wash your hands! (Score:5, Funny)
Bah. The easiest way to avoid spreading disease is to not leave your basement.
Plus there's the additional protection offered by a 2mm Cheetos-dust-and-hand-lotion crust on the hand(s).
Let's just face the facts: If you venture out of the basement to attend a convention, then you're not sufficiently introverted.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Let's just face the facts: If you venture out of the basement to attend a convention, then you're not sufficiently introverted.
I went to the PAX convention, and oddly enough there were slobs there who didn't shower. Every now and then you'd walk down the hall and get a wiff of bad BO. Seriously (rant not aimed at the parent ;)) if any of you are reading this and you go to a public place without being clean what kind of slob are you?
Same thing at Blizzcon - and it happened in the hotel nearby where there were plenty of showers placed conveniently in the room where you are staying.
Why would you go to doctor? (Score:5, Insightful)
If your temperature is within reason, and you don't have other symptoms or are at high risk, why would we want to inundate our medical system with a bunch of people who 'just want to make sure'?
I'm surprised one of the tagging words isn't 'ooohscaryscary'.
Re:Why would you go to doctor? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Why would you go to doctor? (Score:5, Informative)
Here's what the CDC says [cdc.gov].
They list warning signs that advise seeking medical care for adults on that page: Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath; pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen; sudden dizziness; confusion; severe or persistent vomiting; or flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Not for your own benefit, but for others who may have been exposed and are more susceptible. The guys at Penny Arcade are making a list of flights which had passengers confirmed by testing to be contagious with swine flu. Having this information available could help others.
Note: The list has grown substantially over the past few days as people get tested.
Re:Public Health (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean public health as in "Don't go visit other people (such as doctors) who can't do anything for you and might catch it from you?"
If you have the swine flu, there's nothing your doctor can do for you; you need to rest, drink fluids and keep yourself from making other people sick, and call your local non-emergency police number to report the case. Going to a doctor won't do anything for you, and it will actively endanger the health of other people.
I work in a subset of the public health field, and we're really fucking annoyed when we hear a bunch of well-meaning idiots telling people to go to their doctor for something that a doctor cannot possibly do anything about.
Don't waste resources pointlessly - it essentially denies treatment to people who actually do need it and can benefit from it.
Parent
Re:Public Health (Score:4, Funny)
In Belgium I must go to a doctor to get a notice I am ill. Otherwise I will be absent without leave and can get fired on the spot.
In America, it's generally the same. Here's how you handle it:
"Hello, boss? This is houghi. I'm sick in bed and I think I have the swine flu. I'm too sick to drive myself to the doctor. Could you please come and take me? What? Sure, Monday sounds good. Thanks."
Parent
It's the FLU! (Score:5, Insightful)
If you do test positive for swine flu then proper public health measures can be taken.
It's the fucking flu! Have you never had the flu before?
WTF do you think "proper public health measures" are for a highly infectious, incurable disease that in normal situations runs its course in under a week? CLUE: It does NOT involve going into a hospital where you can infect other especially vulnerable people only to have a doctor tell you what you SHOULD already know, which is that he can't do anything for you!
I really don't get this disconnect people are having. It's called "swine flu" just to distinguish it from every other strain of flu that hits every year, but it is still essentially the same bug.
It's like the news reports I see on CNN where the info bar at the bottom will have "Symptoms of Swine Flu", and then lists the symptoms of THE FLU. In fact, maybe if instead of actually listing the symptoms, it just said "Symptoms of Swine Flu: Same as Every Other Flu" people would be less freaked out and slightly less ignorant about what Swine Flu really is -- THE FLU.
Seriously, FFS, if you think you have Swine Flu, pretend you have the "normal" flu (which you do) and act accordingly by staying home and not bothering your doctor. :P
Parent
Re:It's the FLU! (Score:4, Interesting)
I came back from PAX with a fever. When I heard about the H1N1 outbreak I thought "Eh, I'll give my doctor's office a call to see if they want to track me as a statistic or something.". So I did, and they said "If you thing you might have swine flu then you should come to urgent care right away wearing a mask!". I was confused by this but did as told. After an hour of waiting around with an uncomfortable mask on, the doctor told me that maybe I have H1N1 but it wasn't worth testing specifically since it's no different from regular flu. To which I said "That's what I thought. So why did you make me come in?". He didn't have a good answer.
Just doing my part to contribute to skyrocketing health care costs...
Parent
Re:It's the FLU! (Score:5, Funny)
That's not true. Last time I had a bad cold, my doctor gave me something that cured it in 7 days. Without the treatment, it would have taken a whole week.
Parent
Screw swine flu. (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do people care extra-special about swine flu? It's already everywhere. It also doesn't have a mortality rate much higher than the average flu. And with prompt medical attention should respiratory symptoms develop, there's a minimal risk of mortality. I'd be more worried about that guy weaving in the SUV next to you with a greasy burger in one hand and a cell phone covered in ketchup in the other. A lot more.
Re:Screw swine flu. (Score:5, Insightful)
One of my biggest peeves about the media FUD around swine flu - It has a LOWER mortality rate than your typical annual flu. Lower. Less than.
As in, if you had to pick between a random flu-season strain or swine flu, you'd want to get swine flu!
Now, some fearmong^H^H^Hexperts claim that it "could" mutate into a more lethal strain - Which if we seriously believe that, everyone should do their damnedest to catch it ASAP, thereby exposing their immune systems to a similar virus and reducing the symptoms from that hypothetical killer version.
Nah... Let's just panic about it. Perhaps enough midly sick people driving like maniacs to their local hospital can raise the mortality rate to compete with a typical flu, via car accidents.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Because after the fall of the roman empire, people just seemed to stop bathing and threw their trash into the streets - And no one really knows why.
Alright (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Alright (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Hit them back! (Score:4, Funny)
Just got back from Mexico (Score:5, Interesting)
Swine flu is God's punishment for ga... (Score:4, Funny)
Microsoft Aims To Cure Server-Hugging Engineers... (Score:3, Funny)
Swine flu outbreak at PAX.
That'll teach them.
The PAX (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
My friends just attended the PAX in seattle... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You shouldn't dude, really, no one to see that. Thanking you in advance.
Re:Colloidal Silver (Score:4, Informative)
Bzzzt. There is no medical evidence of colloidal silver's safety or effectiveness. OTOH it may very well turn you blue. I wouldn't try it.
Parent
Re:Colloidal Silver (Score:5, Insightful)
Ssssh! You're going to spoil it! Just imagine a world where the intersection of the gullible and slashdot readers is easily identifiable by their blue color! That would be too cool! :)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
One would think that this being discussed on /. would have tipped you off.
Here, I'll help you out a little.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Pax_tux.png [wikimedia.org]